Pieces of Me by Pua Ramona (small books to read txt) 📕

I can’t stop my heart from aching for him. We both know he’s in love with me because he wears his heart on his sleeve. But he knows that I would never give him pieces of myself. If anyone deserves to be loved in return is this man who’s been my rock these past few months and I know I have to let him go. I have no right to his heart when I know that someone else deserves him so much more than I do.

Marino looks at me and he knows it’s time for us to fully let go of each other. We need to find our way back to being just friends. Because I’m not going to let this be the reason why I lose him. I love him because he’s my friend and I need him in my life. He leans in and kisses me the way he’s always wanted to, then he leans his forehead on mine and I see heartbreak on his face. “Take the car. My sister’s here to pick me up, and I already grabbed my bags” he says. “If you need anything, you can call me whenever, it doesn’t matter what time it is, you call me.”

 “I love you Rino” I whisper.

“I know Babe” he says.

I kiss him one last time before he gets into his sister’s car and never looks back. I’m not sure how much more my heart can take. I don’t know what to do so I sit down on the bench and I cry. I cry for my brother, I cry for Marino and I cry for my family.

I don’t know how long I sit there crying, but I rouse myself when I feel a hand on my shoulder. I don’t know who it is and I don’t really care either.

“Sina.” I close my eyes, recognizing the voice and praying that I don’t say anything hateful. “I’m so sorry Sina.” I take a deep breath and more tears run down my face. I feel her sitting down next to me as she wraps her arms around me and we both sit there crying about everything that’s happened in our past and for what is happening now.

Becca pulls me in closer and she completely loses it. “Sina, I know I don’t deserve anything from you, but I want you to know that I am so, so sorry for hurting you” she cries. “I didn’t deserve you as my best friend back then and I don’t deserve your friendship now, but I need you to know that I understand now why everyone chose to keep you in their lives. And I regret with my soul what I did to you.”

I take a lungful of air and say, “I forgive you Becca.”

She starts having a hard time breathing, air forcing it way in and out of her lungs too quickly and I coach her into breathing normally. I know Becca played a part of me leaving but I also can’t blame her for how my life is now. Sometimes in life we have to let go of the things that don't matter anymore. And sometimes we have to put our pain aside to understand why others are hurting. Forgiving Becca is for myself. I need to move on and letting go of my past with Becca is a step toward healing myself.

She nods her head through her tears and says “Okay”

“Shh. Becca, we’ll be okay. I promise” I cry with her.

“I’m having Micah’s baby” she cries.

What? I’m not sure if I heard her wrong so I ask, “You’re what?”

She wipes her face with her sleeve and says “The baby isn’t Eli’s. Micah and I are having a boy.” I don’t know what happened after she told me who’s baby it was, because the next thing I wake up to are a pair of blue eyes staring at me. Shit!

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Eli

We hear someone walk into the room so I figure it’s the nurses coming to help Miss Rita, Megan, Mona, and the guys with Micah. Reese, Lei, and I are helping Mama and Becca pack the rest of his things.

“Hi Grandma.” I look over my shoulder and see Marino and Emma walking over to Miss Rita. Seeing this asshole in here does nothing but piss me off. What really pisses me off is how he cares for Emma as if she’s his own daughter. Yeah, so the fuck what? I’m fucking jealous, and I feel my chest tightening. I haven’t really spent any time with Emma, so I don’t really know her. But the way Lei and Reese talk about her, Emma’s the perfect kid and that they wouldn’t mind if they had a baby. Just as long as their fetus was born with Emma’s cuteness and manners.

My train of thought is cut short when I hear the asshole say “I’m sorry for your loss Mama.” What the fuck? I look over to see if Reese is seeing this shit but instead of being irritated like I am he’s more relaxed. Lei looks at me and just shrugs her shoulders. Do they know something that I don’t? Because if they’re not shocked and pissed off like I am, then I’m missing something. Reese looks at me and shakes his head no then goes back to packing.

“Thank you Rino. What time did your flight get in?” asks miss Rita. What the fuck? Their flight? Maybe I didn’t hear her right. “Our flight was on time, but the traffic was pretty bad,” says the asshole. My heart starts beating fast and I know I have to get the fuck out of here, because if I stay I’m going to say something I’ll regret. I grab my keys and I feel Mama’s hand on my arm.

I look over at her and she says, “Don’t do this right now son. They just lost Micah so whatever crazy you have in